You Can't Run Forever
by speedyturtle33
Summary: Elizabeth returns home 5 years after graduation. She hasn't spoken to anyone at home since she left. What has changed? Why did she leave? Why did she return? What is she hiding?
1. Time to Stop Running

Elizabeth returns 5 years after graduation. She hasn't spoken to anyone from home since she left. What has changed? Why did she leave? Why did she return? What is she hiding?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

* * *

Elizabeth Wakefield stood facing the ocean with her eyes closed and the sun shining on her face. She stood for a moment to take in the smell of the ocean and the feel of the sand on her bare feet. It had been five years since she had last felt the sand between her toes, five years since she had been home.

She opened her eyes and watched a small boy with sandy colored hair run at a group of seagulls on the beach and laugh as they flew away. She couldn't help but laugh along with him. Sometimes Elizabeth wondered why she stayed away from this place for so long. It was gorgeous and always warm, unlike New York where she had been living for the past five years. New York could be the complete opposite of Sweet Valley at times. While California was warm and beautiful and the sun always seemed to shine New York was windy and hectic and in the winter it was freezing and wet. But then Elizabeth remembered just why she had left this place and suddenly Sweet Valley didn't seem so inviting anymore, and the cold, hectic, windy streets of New York were calling her name.

She hadn't spoken to anyone in Sweet Valley for five years, no friends, no family, not even her parents or her twin sister Jessica. What would they all say when she just showed up out of the blue after five years of silence. Elizabeth was dreading the answer to that question. In fact that's why she had stopped here at the beach on the outskirts of Sweet Valley. She had lost her nerve while driving back home down the familiar California roads and had started to have a mild panic attack. She had needed to pull over, step out and get some fresh air. She needed to work up her courage and get back in the car and drive into Sweet Valley and face everything she had left behind.

Elizabeth stared out towards the ocean; the boy was collecting seashells now with a grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear. Elizabeth smiled to herself, he was so happy, enjoying the sun and the beach without a care in the world.

She shouldn't stay too much longer; if she did she was likely to just talk herself out of what she came here to do. She needed to get back in the car and continue to drive.

"Aiden" Elizabeth called, "Come on it's time to go." The boy turned, grinned at her and then ran up the beach to her with his hands full.

"Momma!" he said, "Look what I found! I've never seen anything like it before! What are they Momma? Can I keep them?"

"They're called seashells Aiden. They are all over beaches just like this one. Why don't you pick out your five favorite and you can keep those." Elizabeth couldn't help herself; he was so excited, how could she deny him the pleasure of bringing a souvenir home from his first trip to a beach.

She stared into his deep green eyes lit with excitement and hugged him. He returned the hug and then held out his hand, "these are the ones I want" he said and they turned and walked toward the car.

As they walked Elizabeth got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she ignored it knowing that the feeling was only going to deepen as she got closer and closer to the reason she came back.

* * *

"_You could have told me"_

"_Could have told you what Jess?" Elizabeth was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling when Jessica burst into the room obviously upset about something, but at the moment Elizabeth didn't really care. Everything was wrong, her world was crashing in on her and she didn't know how to make it stop. She wasn't in the mood to hear more of Jessica's problems, fashion faux pas and trying to find a date for the latest party were the last thing she wanted to talk about. She would much rather just be left alone. _

"_You could have told me that Jack had a girlfriend" _

"_Everyone knows that Jack has a girlfriend. They've been dating for like three years." Elizabeth turned her head to look at her sister who was standing over her fuming. Jack had worked on the Oracle with Liz at school. Liz had introduced them at one of their friend's graduation parties. _

"_Well I didn't!" Jessica yelled, "I've been dating the guy for the past six weeks and found out tonight when his girlfriend came up to us while we were making out at Lila's end of summer party and called me a slut in front of everyone!" _

"_I'm sorry Jess that's really terrible but I don't know why you are so mad at me, I thought you knew" _

"_Oh well that's even worse! You thought I knew and was just ok with it! After everything that happened with Will earlier this year did you really think I would ever consider dating another guy with a girlfriend! What kind of girl do you think I am!" _

"_Well to be honest Jess I had no idea you were even dating Jack. I didn't even know you had met him more than a couple of times. I've had a lot of other things on my mind lately" _

"_Yeah I've noticed, you're just too busy for me anymore. I guess this is just a taste of how college is going to be. We won't be at the same school anymore so I guess that means you can just throw me to the side, you don't have to deal with me anymore." _

"_Jessica! Come on that's not fair! You are my twin sister, you will always be important to me! You have no idea what I've been going through these past few weeks" _

"_You're right Liz, I don't have any idea what you've been going through, but why would I, you don't talk to me anymore, and you never have time for me. I don't know what you've been going through these past six weeks just like you have no idea what my life has been like these past six weeks." _

"_You're right Jess, maybe it's time we sit down and talk like we used to. There is so much I need to tell you, but can it wait till the morning? I'm really tired and don't really feel like talking right now." _

_Jessica just stood there, staring at her sister with an expression somewhere between shock and anger. Slowly Jess composed her face, looked her sister up and down and then said, in a tone of pure hatred, "You know what Liz, I don't even care anymore. I don't know who you are anymore. Ever since you got involved with Conner you've changed. I thought that when you guys broke up maybe things would go back to the way they used to be, but they didn't. I came to you tonight vulnerable, crying, on the verge of a breakdown because once again the whole school thinks I'm a lying, boyfriend stealing slut and I thought that coming to you, my TWIN sister, was the only thing that would make me feel better. Instead you just turn me away, dismiss my problems like they are nothing compared to yours. Well excuse me princess! But if this is who you are now, well then I don't want to know you. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you. As far as I'm concerned when you leave for college in two weeks it can be the last time we see or talk to each other ever again." With that Jessica turned and walked out of Elizabeth's room slamming the door behind her. _

* * *

Elizabeth sat up rubbing her eyes. She had tried to forget about that day, push it out of her mind, pretend like it never happened. But being back in Sweet Valley had triggered the memory, and dreaming about that moment just now had brought back all the pain that was associated with that moment.

She had stopped at a hotel in Sweet Valley. She had decided it would be better to get some dinner and sleep before facing everything. She needed to be fresh and ready to deal with anything. Elizabeth looked over at the bed next to her. Aiden was sound asleep snoring away. She got up and walked into the bathroom, closed the door, leaned over the sink and stared into the mirror. What was she thinking coming back here? She hadn't left on good terms with anyone, what made her think that they would want to see her now? Five years may be a long time, but five years of silence may have just made things worse than they were when she left.

Elizabeth turned the faucet on and splashed her face with cold water. She needed to stop focusing so much on the past and dwelling on what everyone's reactions might be when she shows up. She was here for the future; she was here for the little boy who lay sound asleep just outside the door. It didn't matter if no one wanted to see her, she would do her best to make them hear her story. If nothing else she owed it to Aiden to do that much, she owed it to Aiden to stop running from her past and to face it head on.


	2. Returning Home

Chapter 2: Returning Home

* * *

Elizabeth put the phone down for what must have been the tenth time in the past five minutes. She had been arguing with herself about whether it would be better to just show up at her parents' house and surprise them or call them first and give them a heads up. Every time she was about to dial their number she would chicken out and slam the phone down convinced that showing up unannounced would be better.

Finally Elizabeth sucked in a breath and gritted her teeth and dialed her parents' number, a number that once upon a time had been her number as well. She put the phone to her ear closing her eyes. She could hear the ring of the phone on the other line, once, twice, with each ring her heart seemed to beat harder and harder. Finally on the third ring someone picked up.

"Hello?" Elizabeth couldn't seem to find the words to speak. Her mom had answered and all she could do was sit there speechless.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Her mom said, this time sounding somewhat annoyed.

Elizabeth shook her head took a deep breath and said, "H-H-Hi mom, it's, it's Elizabeth"

"Elizabeth?" Mrs. Wakefield sounded shocked, "Is that really you?"

"Yeah it is"

"Oh I am so glad you finally called! I've missed you so much honey! It's so good to hear your voice!"

"Really? It's ok that I called? You're not mad at me for disappearing and not contacting you for the past five years?"

"Well when you first left of course I was a little disappointed that you just left without saying anything but mostly these past five years I've just been worried about you and hoping that you were doing alright."

Elizabeth looked over at Aiden who was sitting on the bed watching tv, "hey mom, would it be alright if I stopped by? I'm in town and would really like to see you. There is so much I have to tell you."

"You are here, in Sweet Valley? I would love if you stopped by, your Father and I would love to see you."

"Ok mom, I'll be over in a few minutes"

Elizabeth turned into her parents' driveway, her hands sweaty and knuckles white as she gripped the wheel. Realizing how hard she was holding onto the wheel she slowly let go, put the car in park and turned to face her son in the back seat.

"You ready to meet your grandparents?" she asked him.

Aiden's smile grew even bigger as he shook his head saying "yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Alright let's do this" and with that Elizabeth got out of the car, went around back to get Aiden and walked towards the door, holding Aiden's hand. She barely pulled her hand away from the door after knocking before it was thrown open and she was standing face to face with her mother.

Her mother looked her up and down, her smile faltering a little as she caught sight of Aiden holding tightly to Elizabeth's hand.

She ushered them into the front room where Elizabeth took a seat on the couch pulling Aiden down to sit next to her. At that moment Elizabeth looked up to see her father enter the room. They all sat in silence for a few seconds staring at each other until her mother finally broke the silence.

"So Lizzie, are you going to introduce us to the beautiful boy sitting next you?"

"Mom, dad, this is Aiden, my son."

"Well hello Aiden, I guess that makes me your grandma. Are you enjoying California?"

"Yeah! Yesterday we went to the beach and mommy let me keep five sea shells! Do you want to see them?" Aiden said while pulling his seashells out of his pocket and holding them out so that everyone could see.

"Wow those are some pretty cool seashells you got there buddy"

Elizabeth looked up at her dad who had just been standing there staring at them saying nothing. Oh how she wished he would just say something, she always hated the way he could just stare at you not saying a word, but saying so much in just one look.

"Well Lizzie I guess we know now why you left without telling us, leaving behind nothing but a note" Not exactly the first words she was hoping to hear from her father after five years, but it was better than silence.

_Elizabeth stood up and pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail. She was barely holding it together as it was and putting her life into boxes like this wasn't making it any easier. Her parents were at some company barbecue for her dad's work and after their fight two days ago Jessica had been avoiding her, finding anything to do that would get her out of the house and away from Liz. _

_Elizabeth stared at the boxes she had just finished packing. She couldn't take them all with her there would be no way to carry them on the train. She had known that before she started packing and still she had packed up her room. She didn't know why she did it, maybe it was a way of getting some sort of closure from everything, maybe it was her way of fooling herself that she wasn't about to run away but was in fact packing for college, or maybe it was just her way of prolonging her departure. Whatever the reason she was done packing now, so she grabbed her two suitcases of stuff she could actually bring with her and headed downstairs. _

_She stopped in the kitchen and pulled out a pen and paper to write a note to her parents, but what could she say to them. How could she tell them she was leaving because she was pregnant and everybody was mad at her and the best thing for all was if she just disappeared? She couldn't say all that in a note so she simply wrote: _

_ "Dear Mom and Dad, _

_I'm sorry. I know you would have liked to say goodbye to me before I left for college but I have a friend who was leaving for the same school today and I figured with everyone mad at me maybe it would be best if I just went with them. I'll leave the jeep at the train station for you guys to pick up later. I love you and I am so sorry for all the trouble I have caused you this year. _

_Liz"_

_Elizabeth read the note over again, knowing that her parents would figure out soon enough that she wasn't going to school, but by the time that happened they wouldn't know where she was anyways. She left the note on the fridge where her parents would find it when they got home and left, shedding the tears that she had been holding back all day. _

Elizabeth shook her head to clear her mind and looked at her parents.

"Do you guys still have the swing set in the back yard?" It would be easier to talk to her parents if Aiden wasn't sitting right next to her listening to everything she had to say.

Her mom catching on to Elizabeth's thinking quickly responded, "Yeah, why don't we go out back. Aiden how would you like to play on the same swing set your mom played on when she was your age?" and they all got up and headed outside.  
Elizabeth sat with her parents on the patio while Aiden played on the swing set a short distance off.

"So we figured out pretty soon after you left that you didn't go to college, at least not the college you had originally planned on going to. I guess now we know that was because you were pregnant. So who's the father?"

That was just like her dad, straight to the point, no small talk needed when you had something important to discuss.

"Conner is the father"

"I thought it might be him" Elizabeth looked at her mom in shock. "Well Aiden is basically the spitting image of Conner" her mom explained. And Elizabeth couldn't argue with her there, she had been looking into Conner's face for the past five years.

"Does he know?" her father asked.

"No not yet. That's part of the reason I decided to come back. I figured it was time he found out. It won't be easy, I'm sure he will be upset with me for keeping it a secret for five years but it's time."

"Part of the reason? Why else did you come back?" Her mom was always so perceptive. Should she tell them the real reason she came back? Was now a good time, or should she wait? No it was better to wait till she had reestablished her relationship with her parents before springing something else on them.

"Well I'd like to try and make things right with Jess again. These past five years haven't been easy and not having Jess there with me has only made it more difficult" she said settling for the answer she knew would satisfy her parents.

"Well honey we would be happy to give you her address and you can go over there after you're done here and try to talk to her. We'll even watch Aiden for you while you're gone. I'm sure it will be easier to talk if you don't have to bring him with you"

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Of course we would, you're our daughter and we've missed out on five years of getting to know our grandson. We want to spend as much time with him as we can get in before you leave town again. Just tell us one thing, why didn't you come to us when you found out you were pregnant? We could have helped you; this wasn't something you had to deal with alone"

"Well I had just fought with Jess, Conner had left for school already and you guys were already angry with me. We were barely talking as it was because of the fights we had, you guys telling me I had changed and that I wasn't the Elizabeth you had raised. And you guys never made it any secret how you felt about teenage pregnancy, and you never really liked Conner as it was, so I figured if I told you I was pregnant and the father was gone it would only make everything worse and it would be easier for me to just leave before you kicked me out"

"Oh honey we would have been angry sure but you're our daughter and we love you, we would never leave you with nowhere to turn"

"Even you dad?" and Elizabeth turned to look at her dad who had been so silent through this whole thing. She had expected some kind of loud angry outburst from him, but so far nothing.

He turned his head from her to watch Aiden for a little while then turned to look back at her. "It doesn't matter now," he said, "what's past is past and there is nothing we can do to change it now. All I know is that there is a little boy over there who is my grandson and I would very much like to get to know him"

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears as she looked from her dad to her mom. She didn't know why her parents were being so amazing about this, but she was more grateful than she could express and she jumped up to pull both her parents into a tight hug.


	3. Blast From the Past

So this is where she lives? Elizabeth thought to herself as she looked at the cozy looking condo in front of her. She had taken her parents up on their offer and had left Aiden with them and went to go talk to Jessica. She had thought about putting it off until tomorrow but things had gone so well with her parents that she had high hopes that maybe things wouldn't go as bad with Jess as she thought they would. Besides putting it off till tomorrow would just give her more time to talk herself out of it.

So now here she sat in front of the address her parents had given her, trying to work up enough courage to get out of the car and walk up to the door. Taking a couple deep breaths Elizabeth opened the door and walked up the walkway, closing her eyes she exhaled and knocked on the door three times.

As each second passed waiting for the door to be opened Elizabeth could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and had to fight the urge to turn away and run before the door could be opened. Finally the door swung open and Elizabeth stood face to face with her identical twin, Jessica Wakefield.

Elizabeth took in Jessica's appearance, she looked good, was dressed in a stylish blue skirt, white cami and sandals. Her hair was longer than Elizabeth's was, than Elizabeth looked into her sisters eyes and it occurred to her that she had no idea what to say. How had she been so stupid to come all the way here and not even work out what she was going to say to her? Not knowing what else to do Elizabeth said the first thing that came to her mind:

"Hey Jess, how's it going?"

Elizabeth watched Jessica's face as the polite smile she had opened the door with disappeared and gave way to shock, which at the sound of Elizabeth's words turned to what looked like anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jessica exclaimed. "I thought I made it perfectly clear that I didn't want anything to do with you! What makes you think that I want to talk to you now? How did you even find me?"

That was the reaction that Elizabeth pretty much expected to get but it still stung to see how angry Jess still was after all these years.

"Jess I know the last time we saw each other things didn't end too well but don't you think it's time we talk and move past that moment? Mom and dad gave me your address, they thought it would be a good idea …"

"NO!" Jess screamed cutting her off, "I don't care. I don't want to hear excuses, I don't want to hear how you've managed to weasel your way back onto the good side of our parents. I just want to go back to forgetting about you and pretending you don't exist" with that Jessica slammed the door closed in Elizabeth's face.

Elizabeth knocked a couple more times, calling out Jessica's name in hopes that she would give in and open the door if she stayed long enough. But the door did not open again and Elizabeth did not get the chance to try and patch things up with Jessica as she had hoped. So Elizabeth turned and walked back to the car wondering what she should do next.

* * *

She was driving aimlessly around Sweet Valley not really sure where she was headed. All Elizabeth knew was that she was not ready to go back to her parents' house and deal with what she knew would be a million questions on why she was back so soon and what had happened with Jessica.

Elizabeth slowed the car to a stop at a red light. Looking around and realizing where she was Elizabeth made a quick right and pulled into the parking lot of the House of Java. She would stop and get some coffee at her old high school hang out, she could hide out there for a little while before going back to her parents house. As she walked through the doors Elizabeth stopped to look around amazed at how the place had not changed a bit since she had last set foot in there. It was a blast from the past, walking through those doors she felt like she was back in high school again and everything was alright.

Elizabeth closed her eyes to take in the smell of the place and let the feeling linger a little while. When she opened her eyes again standing in front of her was familiar face.

"Elizabeth Wakefield. Well I can honestly say I never thought I would see you in this town again." Tia Ramirez said.

Elizabeth gave a slight smile, shrugged and said "Hey Tia, it's been a while. Just thought it was time to come back"

As Elizabeth looked at Tia she realized that Tia didn't looked too pleased, in fact she looked a little angry that Elizabeth was there.

"So you thought it was time to come back huh?" Tia said "Well why now? Why after five years? It's been a long time Liz, a lot has happened since you decided to run from this place. I don't know what makes you think you can just show up now. Does Jessica know you are in town?"

"Actually Tia I just came from Jessica's place. I stopped by to try and work things out with her but she just slammed the door in my face"

"Well I don't know why you expected any different. You can't just show up and expect everyone to open up and welcome you back. It's been a long time."

"I know that Tia and I didn't expect people to just welcome me back no questions asked, but you have to start somewhere right?" Elizabeth said. She didn't fully understand what was going on. She had never had any problems with Tia, they had always gotten along fine. At least she thought so, but the way Tia was treating her maybe they had had a problem and Elizabeth was just too caught up in her own issues back than to realize it. It wasn't that hard to believe, it was after all what Jessica had accused her of.

"I don't know Liz. Maybe you should have just stayed away, coming back is only going to dig up old wounds and cause people pain" than Tia turned and walked out the door.

Elizabeth stood there stunned for a minute not sure what just happened to her. She wasn't in the mood for coffee anymore and this place which had brought back so many found memories when she first walked in the door suddenly made her feel like she couldn't breathe.

Elizabeth ran out the door to her car, closing the door just as a tear fell. She slammed the steering wheel, wiped the tear from her cheek and started the car. This time as she drove she knew where she was going. She was going someplace where there was no chance she could run into someone from her past, her spot on the beach that no one knew about.

* * *

Elizabeth sat on the beach looking out toward the water. She had expected that things would go bad the first time she saw Jessica in five years but she hadn't expected that she would flat out refuse to hear her out like that, slamming the door in her face. Should she go back and keep trying or was it a lost cause? She wasn't really sure what to do next when it came to Jessica.

And then there was Tia, she had never expected to run into Tia. She didn't know why Tia had been so mad at her, sure she had left without saying a word to anyone but she was never particularly close to Tia. They were friendly but she was more the best friend of her ex-boyfriend than she was her friend.

And now that her parents, Jessica and Tia all knew she was in town the next logical step was to find Conner and tell him about Aiden.

"Is this spot taken?"

Elizabeth jumped at the sound of a deep male voice, she hadn't expected anyone to find her here. She looked up into the sun and found herself staring into deep green eyes, the same deep green eyes she had been looking into for the past five years. Somehow she wasn't surprised that Conner would find her here of all places after five years.

"Nope, go ahead and have a seat" she said as she watched Conner plop down next to her he still looked just as good as she remembered, maybe even better.

"Surprised to run into you here"

Elizabeth studied Conner's face as he said that, "Really? Because you don't look all that surprised to see me."

Conner smirked and tilted his head towards her. It was amazing that after all these years that signature smirk of his still had an effect on her. "Well I have a confession," he said "Tia called me about ten minutes ago to tell me that you were in town"

"Ah I see, that figures. So did you come here looking for me or is it just a coincidence that we ended up at the same spot on the beach at the same time?"

"Well to be honest a little bit of both, I wasn't really looking for you but I only came here because Tia told me you were in town. I come here from time to time to think and when Tia called me I just felt like it was time to visit my old spot again. Guess I should have known I would find you here too"

Elizabeth looked at Conner than turned her head to look out over the ocean. So Conner had made this spot "his spot" what did that mean? Did it even mean anything at all or was she just looking too much into it. Maybe she should ask him, ask him if he still thinks about her like she still thinks about him. But he couldn't, why would he, he has no idea about Aiden, he has no reason to think about her.

"What are you doing in Sweet Valley?" She asked instead "I didn't expect you to be here, I thought that once you got out of this place you would be gone for good"

"Well that was the plan. It just didn't work out that way"

Elizabeth turned her head to look at Conner, "Why not?"

Conner sighed and stared at Elizabeth for a minute before turning to stare out at the ocean and answering, "My mom needed me; she was in a terrible car accident that resulted in her needing someone around to help her out. So I moved back and took on that responsibility so that Megan didn't have to"

"Wow. Well that was really nice of you. It's a lot of responsibility. Not everybody would have done something like that"

Conner just shrugged than turned to look at her, "I think the bigger question," he said, "Is what are you doing here in Sweet Valley?"

Elizabeth shrugged and said "just thought it was time I come back"

They sat in silence for a while just looking out over the ocean, wind blowing till finally Elizabeth couldn't take it anymore and broke the silence.

"Remember the last time we were here together?"

Conner grunted looked at her sideways and said "How could I forget"

_

* * *

Elizabeth sat on a log staring into the fire. She was at some kids beach party she wasn't even sure whose it was all she knew was that the entire school was there. She shivered a little and rubbed her arms and then felt something warm encompass her and looked up to see Conner putting a blanket around her arms and sitting down next to her. _

"_Thanks" _

"_I stole it from some couple who ran into the woods to do who knows what" he said with a slight smirk on his face. Oh why did he have to look at her like that, it would be so much easier to get over Conner and move on if he didn't always show up at the perfect moment to make her fall for him all over again. _

"_I didn't think you were going to come to this party" _

"_I wasn't going to but I changed my mind" _

"_What changed your mind?"_

_Conner looked at her, staring into her eyes so she couldn't turn away even if she had wanted to. When he looked at her like that she couldn't remember why they had broken up in the first place. _

"_Tia told me you were here" _

_Elizabeth caught her breath. So he had come to this party just because she was here, that must mean he misses her too._

"_What does that mean Conner? You're the one who broke up with me remember, you can't show up here and tell me something like that and not expect me to get confused." _

"_I know, but Liz I miss you, and right now, in this moment, the reasons why we broke up don't seem all that important." _

_Elizabeth looked around the fire and down the beach at the party. There were too many people around for them to be having this kind of conversation right now. She got up and motioned for Conner to follow her. She walked down the beach a little, walking further from the water's edge till she came to a pretty secluded spot away from all the noise of the party. She sat down and Conner sat next to her. _

"_Are you serious Conner? You really want to have this conversation again?"_

_Conner reached out to grab her hand_

"_Liz, I can't help myself. You do things to me Wakefield, you make me feel like I'm losing my mind. I think about how things ended between us and I wish I could go back and change it."_

_They sat there staring at each other, holding hands for a while. A wind blew and Conner reached up and pushed Elizabeth's hair off her face tucking it behind her ear. He leaned in to kiss her and she responded hungrily. He pushed her down on the blanket as they continued to kiss. The kiss grew deeper and more passionate until Elizabeth pulled away breathless. _

"_Conner we should probably stop." She said with very little conviction in her voice. "We've broken up and you're leaving for school in two days. It would be better if we stop now" she continued trying to convince herself as much as Conner that they should stop. _

_Conner continued to kiss her neck and her shoulders mumbling how much he had missed her and Elizabeth was powerless. Her will power had disappeared and she was giving in to her emotions, something she knew she was going to regret. She pulled Conner's shirt off and then allowed him to pull hers off as she got swept up in the moment. _

* * *

Elizabeth shuddered brining herself back to the present. That party had changed the course of her life in more than one way. She had been stupid and let her guard down long enough to sleep with Conner for the first time, and they weren't even a couple at the time. That had been the night she got pregnant, but it had also been the night that she had introduced Jessica to Jack setting up for the fight with her sister six weeks later on the same day she found out she was pregnant.

She looked over at Conner who looked lost in thought and wondered if he was reliving that night as well.

"Conner about that night, there's something I should tell you."

Conner turned to look at her and before she could get a word out he cut her off

"Elizabeth I am so sorry. That night should have never happened. I think about it all the time. I can't believe how I treated you. We had broken up, I should have just left everything alone, especially since I was leaving for college two days later. But instead I had to go and sleep with you for the first time and than just disappear off to school leaving you alone and not even calling."

"Conner, its ok, I think about that night all the time too, but not for the same reasons as you. You asked me why I came back to Sweet Valley and I guess now's as good a time as any to tell you one of the reasons I came back was to try and find you"

Conner stared at her with a confused look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something but Elizabeth cut him off.

"I came back to try and find you because I need to tell you that you have a son"


	4. Moment of Truth

Elizabeth stared at Conner waiting for him to say something. His face had gone pale, his eyes had widened and his mouth had fallen open, but so far he hadn't said anything. He wasn't even looking at her, just staring out at the ocean.

"Conner? Did you hear me?" Elizabeth said unable to take the silence

"Um, yeah, I'm just finding it hard to believe that's all. I mean...WHAT!"

"I found out after you had already left, I wasn't sure what to do…"

"No, no, no, no" Conner cut her off as he stood up and started flinging his arms in disbelief. "I mean how…no…after five years…I don't…no" Conner stuttered in obvious disbelief. He started pacing back and forth shaking his head. Elizabeth figured the best thing to do was to probably just stay quiet until he asked her a question she could answer.

Suddenly Conner stopped moving and turned to look at Elizabeth, looking her in the eyes and demanding her full attention. "I don't understand" he said.

"What don't you understand Conner? We slept together, we didn't use protection and as a consequence for that action I got pregnant and had a baby."

"That's not what I meant Liz. It's been five years since that night. Why did you wait until now to tell me? You've waited this long, why did you tell me at all? It's not like you kept in touch with anyone from home, you could have gone on living your life without telling me and I would have never found out. What changed your mind?"

"Conner, you need to understand something here," Elizabeth pleaded with Conner standing up to look him in the eye and try her best to get him to understand. "When I found out I was pregnant you had been gone for six weeks and I hadn't heard anything from you since you left. I was already an emotional mess before finding out I was pregnant, and to top it all off the day I found out was the same day I got in that fight with Jessica. So I ran. I didn't know what else to do. But you have to believe me when I tell you that I always planned on telling you. I just didn't know how or when that would be."

Conner looked at Elizabeth, an unreadable expression on his face. "Look Liz," he said, "I need some time with this. This is a lot of information to throw on me all of a sudden. Do you think you can give me just a little time to wrap my head around all this?"

"Of course. I expected you would need some time. I've had five years to get okay with this, it would be wrong of me to expect you to be ok with it in a matter of minutes. Take all the time you need and find me when you're ready to talk." Elizabeth paused hesitating ever so slightly before adding, "There's just one thing Conner. Since Tia was the one who told you I was in town you're obviously still friends with her and I don't know how close Tia and Jess are but can you please not tell anyone? No one else but my parents know that I have a son and I don't want Jessica to find out from anyone but me. So if you could please just try not to tell anyone yet I would really appreciate it." After Conner looked at her and nodded his head Elizabeth turned and walked toward her car.

Elizabeth got into her car and closed the door. Man it had been a long day, first her parents, then her sister, then Tia and then Conner. It was all so exhausting. She needed a nap, maybe she could call her parents and convince them to watch Aiden a little longer while she went back to the hotel to get some rest.

A little while later Elizabeth was back in her hotel room, she had called her parents and told them that things hadn't gone so well and they had agreed to watch Aiden for a little longer and when Elizabeth was ready they would all go to dinner together as a family. Elizabeth lay on her bed looking up at the ceiling taking in everything that had happened that day. Out of the million scenarios that Elizabeth had played in her head over the years of how things would go when she finally came back home she never imagined it quite like that. Now she just needed to figure out her next steps. There was what she was going to do to get Jessica to at least hear her out, and then there was the matter of Conner. He said he needed time, which she understood, but what would happen once he had time? What if he said he didn't want anything to do with her or Aiden? She had five years waiting for this moment and in that time she had made plans and expectations, but now that the moment was here what if none of that happened? Then what would she do?

Elizabeth stood up and headed towards the bathroom, maybe if she took a shower it would help her unwind and relax. She couldn't go back to Aiden so tensed and worried, he would notice and start asking questions she didn't want or know how to answer. Just as she reached the bathroom there was a knock on her door. Elizabeth stopped and turned to look at the door. Why would anybody be knocking on her door? The only people that knew where she was were her parents. The person on the other end of the door knocked again and Elizabeth slowly walked towards the door to answer it. When she opened it she was standing face to face with a very nervous and fidgety Conner. She had never seen Conner like that before, he was always so cool and composed, acting like he didn't have a care in the world. To see him so undone was almost as much of a shock as seeing him at her door at all.

"Conner? What…"

"I need to talk to you," he cut in without letting her finish.

"Ok sure, but how did you know where I was?"

"I called your parents, they told me where I would be able to find you."

"Ok, well why don't you come on in and we can talk"

Conner glanced nervously around and Elizabeth knew what he was looking for,

"He's not here Conner, my parents are watching him right now, it's just me."

Conner stepped around her into the room and as Elizabeth closed the door she glanced over at Conner who had begun to pace the floor.

"I have to say Conner, when I said you could have some time to think and we could talk later I didn't expect that to mean only an hour later"

"I didn't either, but as I sat there thinking, I had a million questions running through my mind, so I thought maybe it would just be better if I found you."

"Well here I am, so ask me anything you want and I'll do my best to answer it"

Conner continued to pace back and forth for a little while until finally he stopped and looked at her.

"No one else knows?" he asked

"No one but my parents."

"It's been five years and you haven't said anything to anybody?"

"Nope"

"Where have you been all this time?"

"New York"

"And what have you been doing in New York?"

"Working mostly. I didn't go to college, being pregnant with no form of a support system I knew I had to figure out some way to support myself. Using what little I had from my savings I got myself a tiny studio apartment and got a job waitressing at a restraint. Waitressing wasn't enough money to live on, especially as an only parent so after I had the baby I signed up with a temp agency as well. After numerous odd jobs I got placed at a small local newspaper that ended up hiring me as a permanent secretary. After a little while there the editor said they would give me a job as a blurb writer starting once a week if I went to school. So I've been attending night classes at a local community college trying to get my journalism degree."

"So what's going on with all that now that you're here?"

Elizabeth looked up at Conner who was standing there staring down at her, "It's on hold at the moment" she said.

"What does that mean exactly?"

"Well it means that I have more important things that I need to do right now so that other stuff is just going to have to wait."

"You know, I get this feeling like you're holding back, not telling me something"

Elizabeth stared up at Conner he always seemed to be able to read her better than she could read him, "Look Conner I said I would do my best to answer your questions, and that's what I've been doing. You said you needed time to think and then you showed up here an hour later with nothing but questions. Now I completely understand, I sort of sprang all this on you out of nowhere, but now it's my turn to ask a question. I need to know what you're thinking. Are you scared and thinking about turning and running the other direction or are you thinking about giving this a shot, getting to know your son?"

Conner looked down at Elizabeth and then sat down on the bed next to her.

"Look" he said, "I'm not going to lie all of this scares me, more than that it terrifies me. The thought of me being a dad, wow, I still find it hard to believe. But then again, the minute you left the beach after telling me I started to think about this kid I never knew I had and how he has gone his whole life without knowing his father. I know a little something about what it's like to grow up without a dad around, and it's not something I want my son to go through. Thinking about how much of his life I've already missed, how many milestones I've missed, it makes me sad. And listening to you describe the sacrifices you've made makes me realize that not only have I not been there for him, but I haven't been there for you either. Now I know it's not going to be easy, and I know that there may be times where I'll feel like bolting, but I also know that I won't because now that I know I have a son the idea of turning my back on him and not doing everything in my power to be a good father to him would kill me. I made a promise to myself a long time ago when my father left me, that I would never leave any of my children without a father."

Elizabeth drew in a shaky breath, was this really happening? Was Conner really saying that he was going to stick around, that he was going to take responsibility and be there for his son?

"Conner are you sure? I know this is asking a lot but I need to make sure you are positive you want to do this. Aiden and I have been living just the two of us for years, it's far from perfect, and I won't pretend that it's ever been particularly easy but it's worked for us, we have a system. All of that would be disrupted if you came into our lives and decided it was too hard for you and ran. I can't have that. It would be too devastating for both of us"

Conner took Elizabeth's hands into his own and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Believe me when I tell you that I am positive" he said, "I may not have thought about it for very long but I didn't need much time to know I am in this. Forever. No matter what."

Elizabeth wiped the tears from her eyes and gave Conner a hug.

"You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that." She said with a tiny laugh, "now how would you like to meet your son? We were going to go out to dinner with my parents tonight, you should join us."

Conner smiled and reached out to wipe away a tear that was trickling down her face, "I'd love to" he said.


	5. When Father met Son

authors note: Hey guys, I know it's been a little while since my last update, school got in the way. Hopefully it won't take as long for me to upload the next chapter but I've hit a little writer's block. I know where I want the story to end, now I just need to find out how to get it there. So until next time I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

* * *

"Okay," Conner said standing up and smoothing his shirt out. He did it to give his hands something to do. Suddenly he felt extremely uncomfortable, he wasn't used to expressing so much of himself like that all at one time, all to one person. After all these years Elizabeth still seemed to have a way to make him come unglued at the seams, something no other girl had ever done.

He looked down at Elizabeth who was staring up at him, obviously waiting to see what he was going to say next. Conner studied her appearance. When he had seen her sitting on the beach he hadn't noticed just how skinny she was. He wondered if that was a result of a low income and putting all her extra money, time and energy towards her son. THEIR son, man that was going to take some getting used to. He had a kid, a little boy. Staring into Elizabeth's blue eyes, glistening with the unshed tears from moments before Conner realized he hadn't asked all the questions he had come here to ask. They were questions he wanted answered before meeting his son. So even though the idea of extending this intimate conversation further was not very appealing to him he knew he needed to ask them now.

"Well now that we have got that all figured out," Conner said as he went to lean against the wall across from Elizabeth in an attempt to put some distance between them and keep this conversation from getting as intimate as the previous one, "there are still a few questions that I have before I meet my son"

"Okay, shoot" Elizabeth said straightening up a little.

"So his name is Aiden?" he asked remembering Elizabeth mentioning that name during their previous conversation.

"Yeah, I was looking through baby name books while pregnant and that name just sort of stood out to me." Elizabeth answered, anticipating the question of where the name came from.

"What does he look like?"

"Well, he looks a lot like you actually. He's definitely got your eyes; his hair is a little lighter than yours."

"What's he like?" Conner asked unable to find a better way to phrase his curiosity about Aiden.

Elizabeth's face lit up and her lips turned up into a smile as she responded, "Oh Conner he's truly amazing. Of course you'll find that out for yourself once you get to know him. He's smart, smarter than a lot of kids his age, he's extremely observant, can't hide much from him; he's passionate, kind, loving, and extremely protective. He is truly a joy."

Unable to keep the distance between them Conner walked over to Elizabeth and sat on the bed next to her.

"Does he ask about me?"

Elizabeth grabbed his hand and looked at him, "More now that he's started to make friends at school and realized that most kids have a dad. I've never told him anything bad about you. I told him you live in California and that's why you couldn't be with him."

Conner sat there staring at a picture on the wall without really looking at it. He let it all sink in, in a matter of hours he had become a dad, was about to meet his son for the first time, and his life would forever be linked to Elizabeth Wakefield, someone he never thought he would ever see again, but who he had thought about from time to time unable to stop himself.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him and he turned to look at Elizabeth. "You said on the beach that part of the reason you came back was to find me and tell me about Aiden, but you also said you didn't expect to find me here."

"I didn't, I thought this was a pretty good starting point though. I was hoping to find someone who would know where to find you or how to get a hold of you"

"What if I wasn't here? What did you expect to do after you found out where I was?"

"Come find you"

Conner thought about that, it sounded like she was pretty serious about trying to find him. But he still didn't understand why all of a sudden she wanted to do this now. But when he had pressed earlier he got the sense she didn't want to talk about it. Conner decided to let it go this time, he would give them some time to get to know each other again before pressing the issue again.

"Okay well, I'm sure I will have many more questions as time goes by, but I think it's time we get moving and I get to meet my son. So why don't you take a shower, I'm sure it's been a long day for you and you could use a shower to relax a little. I'll wait for you to finish and then we can head over to your parents."

Elizabeth looked at Conner, she appeared to be a little shocked with the abrupt change in subject. She looked like she was about to say something more but decided against it. She stood up and looked at Conner, "alright, sounds like a good plan. I won't be too long." With that she turned, walked into the bathroom and shut the door. A few moments later Conner heard the water for the shower start and he finally relaxed lying across the bed and looking up at the ceiling. Man he had no idea he was so tense.

Conner stared up at the ceiling, in just a little while he would be on his way to meet his son, his and _Elizabeth's_ son. Wow.

* * *

Conner was following Elizabeth in his car on the way to her parent's place. It seemed more practical to take two cars there so that at the end of the night they could go their separate ways back home. As he was driving and getting closer and closer to the Wakefield house his anxiety was growing. In just a few short hours his life had changed completely. He had found out he was a father, to a five year old boy, and now he was about to meet him for the first time. This was all happening so quickly.

Elizabeth turned her car into the driveway of a house he knew very well. He pulled in behind her and turned his car off, but found himself frozen unable to get out of the car. Elizabeth was walking towards him, she was looking at him, he needed to pull himself together, he didn't want her to think he was having second thoughts, especially after that speech he had given her earlier back at the hotel.

Elizabeth opened his door and leaned in, "It's ok if you're nervous. I know this is a lot for you to take in right now. If you're not ready for this and need a little more time to get used to the idea before you meet him I'd understand."

"No," he replied, "I want to do this now, just give me a moment"

She stepped back and let him have his moment, he took a couple deep breaths and stepped out of the car.

As they were walking towards the door he grabbed her arm to stop her. "What exactly is the plan here? Are we going to tell him who I am right away, or wait a little?"

"Well Conner that's really up to you. We could go in there and I can introduce you as my friend if that's what you are more comfortable with. But if you're serious about sticking around, which I believe you are, then I'm ok with telling him who you are. In fact I think Aiden is expecting to meet his father on this trip. Like I said before I've told him you live in California, and when he found out we were going to California I think he got his hopes up that he was going to meet his dad"

"Ok then let's just do it, let's tell him who I am" but as a thought crossed his mind Conner hesitated ever so slightly before saying, "The only thing is I'm going to need you to do the talking. As you can see this is a lot for me, I'm not sure what, if anything, I'll be able to say once I see him."

"No problem, I'd rather do the talking, explain it to him the way I want it to be explained"

With that they walked up to the porch and walked through the door.

* * *

"Mom, Dad I'm back" Elizabeth said as she stepped through the door. Her mom walked through the kitchen door and approached them, "Oh hey honey, you brought Conner with you, good I was hoping you would. I was thinking we could just eat here tonight instead of going out if that's ok. I had your father go out and start the grill, he's out there now with Aiden."

"Yeah that sounds great mom, it will give us more privacy and time so we can all reconnect." Then Elizabeth turned to look at Conner who was standing very still and looking a little pale. "Why don't I go speak to him first," she said, "You can wait in the kitchen and when I signal you can come out and meet him" Conner nodded in response and Elizabeth thought he must be going through a million emotions right now, unsure of what exactly to think.

They walked into the kitchen, where Elizabeth left Conner as she went through the kitchen door into the backyard. Aiden immediately ran up and gave her a hug.

"Mommy, you're back. This has been such a great day! I got to play and talk to my new grandma and grandpa and they even said they would take me to the beach one day and I could go swimming in the water! How cool is that!"

"That's very cool Aiden, I'm glad to hear you've had a good time with them"  
"And now you're back and grandpa said he was going to cook hamburgers and hotdogs for us"

"Yum. Actually Aiden I brought somebody else with me. Someone I would like you to meet. Do you remember when you asked me about your dad?"

Aiden nodded

"What did I tell you about him?"

"You said he lived in California, and we are in California now"

"You're right. Would you like to meet your dad?"

"Yes"

"Good, because that's who I brought with me, he's very excited to meet you"

As Elizabeth watched the smile on her son's face grow bigger in anticipation of meeting his father, Elizabeth turned to signal to Conner to come out. As he walked out of the house Elizabeth noticed that he didn't look as nervous as he had when they first got to the house. He must have used that time in the kitchen alone to collect himself.

Conner walked up to them, stopped in front of Aiden and knelt down to his level, "hello Aiden, it's very nice to meet you."

Aiden ran up to Conner and pulled him into a hug. Elizabeth watched as Conner's shocked and surprised face softened and a look she had never seen from him before crossed over his face. At that moment Elizabeth knew that she could count on Conner to be there for his son if nothing else.

Throughout the dinner as Elizabeth watched Conner interact with his son she knew that it was all worth it. This trip and the reason she had come out here to find Conner in the first place would all be worth it no matter the pain and troubles that were still ahead or what she had already gone through. Her son had a father now, and that was all that mattered.


	6. Learning to be a Family

Author's note: Hey guys sorry for such a long time between updates, life got in the way. But here is the next chapter and hopefully I can get the next update up soon. Hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

**Learning to be a Family **

Elizabeth woke the next morning to the phone ringing, when she answered it she heard Conner on the other end.

"Hey Liz, I was wondering if you and Aiden would like to go to the zoo with me today. I'd like to get to know him better, you know, bond with him and find out what kind of things he likes."

"I think that sounds like a great idea Conner, Aiden loves the zoo"

"Great! How about I pick you guys up in 2 hours"

"Sounds good I'll see you then"

Elizabeth hung up the phone and looked over at Aiden who was still sound asleep, she thought about how much her life had changed in the few days since she told Conner about Aiden and was grateful for how Conner was taking it, even making an effort to get to know Aiden better. It was true, Conner really had changed and grown since high school. Elizabeth smiled to herself and stood up to get ready deciding that she should get up and take a shower first before waking Aiden up and getting him ready.

* * *

Walking through the zoo a few hours later Elizabeth was enjoying the sun shining on her face and Aiden seemed to be enjoying himself running from one animal exhibit to the next excitedly pointing out each animal to her and Conner.

"Hey Liz," Conner interrupted her thoughts, "Thanks for doing this with me it means a lot to me, being able to get to know my son…our son"

Elizabeth smiled at Conner, "our" son she thought, that was going to take some getting used to. For years Aiden had been only hers, she was the one solely responsible for him and now Conner was there and willing to do his part, she now had someone else to help her and that was a good feeling.

"Of course Conner," Elizabeth responded, "you're his father, you have every right to spend time with him"

"Come on! Let's go to the monkey house!" Aiden said excitedly as he ran up to Elizabeth and Conner and grabbed their hands pulling them towards the monkey house. Elizabeth looked down at Aiden grasping her hand and shifted her gaze to see him also grasping Conner's hand, as she lifted her head to look at Conner she saw him also looking at Aiden's hand in his, as he lifted his head he made eye contact with her. The expression on his face was one Elizabeth had never seen from him before, he looked happier than she had ever seen him and in that moment that they shared Elizabeth knew this was going to work.

* * *

A couple weeks later Conner was sitting on a park bench looking on as Elizabeth pushed Aiden on the swings. He couldn't believe how much his life had changed in just a couple of weeks. Not that long ago his greatest concern was for his mother and making sure she was well cared for. When his mother had gotten into that car accident a few years back it had completely altered his life. He had to put his life on hold and move back to the one place he had always been passionate about leaving. Through the years he had managed to get his life on a track, he was happy with it, he had hired an in home nurse to help care for his mom, had gotten a job as a music teacher at a nearby university for musicians and while that wasn't his dream job he had really come to enjoy it and he had even started to dabble in his own music again. And now his life had been rocked once again, but somehow he was embracing this change, even excited about it. Ever since Elizabeth had walked back into his life and rocked him only the way that Elizabeth Wakefield could he had done everything he could to focus his life around his son and make up for all the time he had missed. Conner watched Aiden as he smiled and laughed on the swing as Elizabeth smiled and laughed along pushing him. Looking at Elizabeth and how happy she was Conner couldn't help but feel this was the way things were supposed to be, no one had ever made him feel quite the way Elizabeth had and after spending these past couple weeks with her and their son those feelings from the past were starting to creep back up.

"Conner?" Conner jumped a little at the sound of his name and looked up to see Tia standing in front of him. He had been so lost in thought he had missed her walking up to him, and his chance to prepare what he was going to say to her. He had been avoiding her, since he had found out about Aiden and now here she was with Aiden and Elizabeth only a few feet away.

"Hey Tia, what's up?"

"What's up? What's up? Really? Conner I haven't heard from you in weeks and that's how you greet me? Why have you been avoiding me?"

Conner looked at Tia who was standing over him fuming and he wasn't sure what to say and then looked over at Aiden just in time to see him running in his direction.

"Hey dad guess what! Mom was pushing me on the swings and I just jumped off and landed on my feet!"

"Very cool Aiden!" Conner said then looked up at Tia who was just standing there staring at him looking shocked and then she turned her head and looked over at Elizabeth who had just joined them. She took one look at Tia and obviously caught onto the situation, Elizabeth bent down put her hands on Aiden's shoulders and said, "Hey Aiden why don't we go get some ice cream and let your dad talk to his friend" and then Elizabeth took Aiden's hand and led him towards the ice cream man.

"What was that?" Tia said when they left, obviously shocked

"Well um, the reason Elizabeth came back to town was actually to find me and to tell me about Aiden, our son" Conner explained.

"Wow…I…wow" Tia said obviously struggling to find words as she plopped down onto the bench next to Conner. "I don't believe this" she finally managed to get out.

"I know it's a lot to take in, I mean I never really thought of myself as a father but it's true" Conner said.

"No that's not what I mean" Tia said turning to face Conner, "What I can't believe is that a couple weeks ago you found out you had a son and instead of calling me you chose to avoid me"

"Tia a couple weeks ago my life changed, I all of a sudden became a father of a little boy, I have all this new responsibility and changes that I've been trying to deal with and learn to cope with."

"Conner don't you think I understand that? I'm supposed to be your best friend, I'm supposed to be able to support you and help you deal with this, encourage you to do the right thing be there to help you vent and express your feelings. I would have thought that after everything we have been through you would have realized that, but obviously we have a different idea of what a best friend is."

"Tia your right, I probably should have told you right away, but I didn't know what to say to you or if I should. I know how close you are to Jessica and I didn't want to create more problems between Elizabeth and Jessica, they have enough problems as it is and to add to that Jessica finding out about our son from someone other than Elizabeth could just drive the wedge further between them. But at the same time maybe doing this on my own was a good thing. I figured out what the right thing to do was on my own and now I know that I will always be there for Aiden and Elizabeth. I can't believe how much I have already missed of his life, all the milestones that I wasn't there for. Now all I want to do is make up for the time I missed and make sure I'm around for all future events. "

Tia looked from Conner out across the playground to where Elizabeth was sitting with Aiden as he finished his ice cream.

"He looks just like you," she said

"Yeah he does, doesn't he" Conner responded with a slight smile.

Tia sighed and looked back at Conner, "Well" she said, "You have done much worse in the past. I've put up with you for this long and if I don't forgive you for not telling me sooner, I'll just miss out on watching you attempt to be a father and how can I pass that opportunity up" she smirked nudging Conner.

Conner laughed and said, "I'm sure it will be very interesting to watch"

Tia smiled and looked back over at Aiden and Elizabeth, Aiden had finished his ice cream and was heading back toward the playground.

Tia looked back at Conner and looked like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure if she should. Finally she said, "Conner I want to ask you something, I hope you don't get offended and if it's too personal you don't have to answer."

"Ok…" he responded unsure of what was going to come next

"I didn't know you and Liz had even slept together"

Conner felt he should be surprised by the nature of the question but he knew Tia well enough that he wasn't surprised at all.

"Well," he said deciding to answer her knowing sooner or later she would get it out of him, "we only did it once, and we were broken up at the time. It was the night of that huge party on the beach, two nights before I left for school. In fact Liz said something about the day she found out she was pregnant was the same day she got in that huge fight with Jess."

"Well that explains a lot" Tia said

"I just feel terrible because I imagine that if we had never slept together or if I had been around when she found out she was pregnant she may have never had that fight with Jessica. I can only imagine how lost and lonely she was feeling at the time. But I can't change the past, I can only change the future and make sure that both she and my son have a great future ahead of them with me in it"

Tia looked over at Elizabeth on the other side of the playground,

"I think I owe Elizabeth and explanation" she said, "I kind of went off on her when I ran into her at HOJ"

"Yeah," Conner agreed, "she didn't really understand why you were so angry at her"

* * *

Elizabeth looked over at Conner and Tia talking on the other side of the playground. She hoped Tia wasn't being too harsh on Conner for not telling her about Aiden, she knew the reason he hadn't told Tia yet was because of her.

All of a sudden Tia got up and started walking towards her, Elizabeth wasn't sure what to think. Last time she had run into Tia it was made pretty obvious that she was not a fan of Elizabeth's and Elizabeth hoped this was not going to be another one of those moments, because the last thing she wanted was a scene on the playground with her son looking on.

"Hey Liz," Tia said as she approached her, "mind if I sit with you? I think there are a few things we should talk about."

"Sure have a seat," Liz responded hoping Tia was going to keep this civil and it wouldn't end up in another scene like the last time they met.

Tia sat down on the bench next to Elizabeth and looked at her, "First of all Liz I should apologize for the way I treated you when I saw you at HOJ a few weeks ago. You see Jessica and I have gotten really close, we've not only become great friends but we've also opened a business together. When I saw you standing there all those old feelings of anger and a desire to protect not just Conner but Jessica as well came to the surface and I sort of exploded on you"

"Oh pleas don't worry about it," Elizabeth responded, "I totally understand. I know when I left here I didn't have many friends and I didn't expect a warm welcome back from anyone, I guess I just wasn't expecting such a hostile one from you. But I get it, and I hope that one day we will be able to be friends again."

"Me too" Tia smiled in response

"I owe you an apology too Tia," Elizabeth went on, "I hope you didn't get too angry with Conner for not telling you about Aiden because the only reason he didn't was because I asked him not to tell anyone. I thought that was the kind of news best shared in person by me and not through the grape vine of rumors, especially to Jessica. I was hoping I could tell Jessica myself and not have her find out from someone else giving her even more reason to hate me. But I've been calling her everyday since I got back and she hasn't answered any of my calls or called me back so it doesn't look like she's willing to give me the chance to fix our relationship. I was hoping we could start rebuilding our relationship before she found out I had a son because I didn't want her to think I was using that as a tool to get her to talk to me again. But I was so wrapped up in trying not to damage my relationship with Jessica anymore that I didn't even thinking about the fact that Conner would be damaging his relationship with you. And you guys have an existing relationship Jessica and I don't even have one anymore, so I'm sorry if I caused any problems between you two"

"Oh Elizabeth, Conner and I have been through a lot more together and still manage to stay friends. Besides you trying to fix your relationship with your sister is important I completely understand where you are coming from and would have probably done the same thing if I were in your shoes"

"Thanks for being so understanding Tia, Conner is lucky to have a friend like you" Elizabeth smiled as Tia reached over and grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze.

"You know Liz I'm pretty lucky to have Conner as a friend myself. Conner has gone through a lot since high school ended and it has really helped him to grow and mature. When I was over there talking to him he couldn't stop talking about Aiden and how much he wanted to be there for both you and him." Tia said smiling over at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked over at Conner who had gotten up and was playing with Aiden on the playground. "Yeah" she said, "He's been really great these past few weeks, so I have my parents, now I just wish Jessica would give me a chance to explain everything."

"Well maybe I can help with that" Tia said, "I won't tell her about Aiden, but maybe if I try and convince her to at least listen to you she will." Elizabeth smiled at Tia, "that's really nice Tia but I don't want you to do anything that could ruin your friendship with her."

"Oh Please, that's not something for you to worry about." Tia said smiling then she turned her head to watch Conner and Aiden, "now if you don't mind I would like very much to meet that beautiful boy of yours who looks like a little replica of Conner"

"My pleasure" Elizabeth smiled and the two of them got up and walked toward Aiden and Conner.

* * *

Later that night Conner carried a sleeping Aiden into Elizabeth's hotel room where he laid him on the bed and looked down at his sleeping son. He was still getting used to being a father, but looking at this boy as he slept made him smile, he bent down and swept the hair off his forehead then went out to the lounge where Elizabeth was sitting.

"Still asleep" Elizabeth asked as Conner approached her.

"Yeah, he's sound asleep, he had a big day today" He said as he sat down in a chair next to her.

Elizabeth smiled then looked down at her hands in her lap, "Hey Conner I just want to apologize if I caused any trouble between you and Tia" she said.

"Oh don't worry about it, Tia and I are good, she's just excited to be an aunt" Conner smiled and looked over at Elizabeth. Conner looked her over as she sat nervously in the chair next to him. She had her hands folded in her lap and was looking down. Once again he was getting the feeling that she was holding something back. Ever since she had come back into his life he felt like she was hiding something and now more than ever he was getting that feeling.

He was about to ask her when she all of a sudden lifted her head to look at him, "So I was wondering if you would like to take Aiden for the day on Monday, just you and him, some time to bond alone" she said.

Conner was a little surprised at what she said, not really expecting that, but he responded, "Sure, that sounds like a good idea. Any reason why Monday in particular?"

"Um well, I just thought I'd go into the city for the day"

"What for?" Conner asked.

"Well my old boss knows I'm in California and there is this boutique in the city that sells one of a kind things and asked me if I had a chance to go into the city if I could pick something up for them"

Conner looked at Elizabeth and studied her expression, he knew she wasn't telling him the truth and decided it was time to press a little more and see if he could get her to give up her secret. "Well why don't we make it a family outing, a day in the city. I mean this time is as much as me bonding with Aiden and learning to be a father as it is us bonding as a family and learning be a family"

Elizabeth appeared a little shaken by the suggestion but didn't let it throw her off track for more then a couple of seconds.

"Oh I don't think that's such a good idea," she said, "Aiden grew up in a city he doesn't want to spend a day in another one when he can spend it out here with you at the beach or something. Besides you and him should really have some one on one bonding"

Tired of the act Conner finally decided it was time to get the truth out of Elizabeth, "look Liz I know you're not telling me the truth about why you want to go into the city. You told me everything back home in New York was on hold, including your job, why would you want to go into the city to get something for your boss when you're not even sure when you will be going back? I know you well enough to know you are hiding something, I've known it since that first day when I asked why you decided to come looking for me now of all times and you gave me some vague excuse about it just being the right time. I let it go then because I thought what you needed was to see that I can be trusted to stick around this time and maybe once you saw you could trust me you would open up and tell me, but instead you are sitting here lying to me and doing everything you can to avoid telling me the truth" During this speech Conner had stood up and started pacing but now he had stopped and was standing over Elizabeth looking her in the eyes, hoping that she would finally come out with the truth.

Elizabeth glanced down the hall where the door to her hotel room was and where Aiden was sleeping then she looked back at Conner, took a deep breath and said, "You're right, there is something that I have been avoiding telling you." She stared into Conner's eyes and he couldn't remember ever seeing a pair of eyes so beautiful looking so sad, "you might want to sit down" she said.


	7. The Big Reveal

Author's note: So I know it's been forever since I've updated. Truth is I lost interest in the story. However I recently got a new computer and in the process of transferring my documents from one computer to the next rediscovered this little story and suddenly felt a need to continue with it. So after long wait here is the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy and I will do my best to continue on with the story. Thank you to all who have reviewed encouraging me to continue.

* * *

**The Big Reveal**

Conner stood staring at Elizabeth for a few seconds as she kept her head down staring at her feet, he then lifted his head to look down the hall at the door to Elizabeth's and Aiden's room where Aiden lay sleeping. Returning his gaze to Elizabeth he sat down in a chair directly across from her silently begging her to lift her head and look him in the eyes. He didn't know what was about to come, but he knew it had to be big.

Slowly and silently Elizabeth lifted her head and looked Conner in the eyes. Conner stared back into her eyes and could see the depth of pain behind them that she had been hiding from him before. Looking at her now Conner could see the bags under her bloodshot eyes and small frail frame.

Taking a shaky breath before speaking Elizabeth said, "It's kind of a long story and is going to be hard for me to say, so please bear with me and try not to interrupt me because if you stop me in the middle I may not be able to continue, Ok?"

Elizabeth stared at Conner her eyes pleading with him and as he tried to answer her but the words wouldn't come finally he resolved to nodding his head in agreement. Finding this as acceptable terms of agreement Elizabeth proceeded.

"A few years ago, Aiden was about one, I was diagnosed with cancer. I went through the treatments, chemotherapy all of it. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done but not because of any pain I may have been in but because during it all I kept thinking about the fact that if I didn't make it through what would happen to Aiden. I've made a lot of stupid decisions in my lifetime but the smartest one I ever made was to have Aiden. He is my entire life and because of my decision to run and hide from my problems Aiden would be left without a home. I promised myself that if I made it through and beat my cancer I would come back home and make things right, I would find you and tell you about your son and give you the option to be a part of his future. I would make things right with my parents and with Jessica.

When the doctors told me I was in remission I broke down and cried thankful to know I would have more time with my son. After finding out I was in remission I kept putting off coming back here and facing everyone. I would tell myself after my next visit to the doctor if the news was still good I would pack up and come home, and each visit the news was good I would just put it off until the next one. Finally the thought of coming back here was no longer a part of my plans. Then a couple weeks ago at a routine check-up I found out that my cancer had come back. Immediately I thought about how stupid I had been to not do what I said I would and come back and find a home for Aiden. I wasn't going to go through that again so the next day I packed up our stuff and came out here.

I was hoping things with Jessica would have smoothed over by now, I call her everyday but she has yet to pick up my call or call me back. But I can't keep waiting around for her. I've decided it's time to fight back, I know now that no matter what happens to me Aiden will be taken care of and loved. Now the next best thing I can do for him is to fight for myself and make sure that I am around for as much of his future as I can be. So I made an appointment and that is what I need to go into the city for and Aiden can't be there for that."

When Elizabeth had stopped talking she exhaled one long breath lifted her head, which she must of lowered from looking at Conner at some point during her story without him realizing, and stared at him eyes pleading for him to say something.

For a long time Conner just sat there staring at her, everything she had just told him was so much to take in he didn't know what to say. He knew she had been hiding something but had no idea it was as big as this. She had basically just told him that the reason she was here was because she was dying and needed to make sure that her son, their son, was taken care of.

Conner took a deep breath and stood up, a sudden wave of anger hit him as he began to speak, "so let me get this straight," he said as he began to pace, "basically the only reason you came back is because you are sick and want to make sure Aiden is well taken care of. But if it wasn't for that then I still wouldn't know about my son"

Elizabeth inhaled sharply as if she had been slapped but she looked him in the eye as she responded, "I told you that I've made many stupid mistakes in my life. Running from this place and all my problems here instead of facing them, never telling you about your son, those are mistakes I regret. But I was scared, scared of what you would say, what Jessica would say, what my parents would say. It's true that being sick was a wake up call for me and gave me the courage to do what I should have done a long time ago, and I am sorry that it took me so long"

Conner continued to pace he didn't know what he was supposed to do, he couldn't just sit there, not with all this running through his mind. Trying to organize his thoughts Conner stopped and turned to look at Elizabeth, her vulnerability was heartbreaking. As he stared at her, looking weaker and more scared then he had ever known her to be all his anger with her seemed to disappear.

"And all this time you've been here you haven't received any treatment?"

"No," she responded looking at her hands, "not since I found out my cancer had come back. I don't know what kind of news I'll get from the doctor but I'm not expecting it to be good"

Conner sat down again, this time in the chair next to Elizabeth and grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes, "and your parents, they have no idea?" he asked her.

"No," she said, "I was going to wait and tell them after my appointment when I knew for sure what I was dealing with now."

"Well you can count on me to be there and do whatever you need to help you" Not too long ago something like this would have sent him running as far in the other direction as he could get, now however all he wanted to do was be there and make all her pain disappear.

"Right now all I need you to do is watch Aiden for the day while I go into the city"

"You got it" he said as he reached up, touched his thumb to her cheek and wiped away the single tear that was streaming down her face.

* * *

Elizabeth turned the hair dryer off as she finished drying her hair and put it on the bathroom sink. She leaned forward to look at herself in the mirror. Back when she was first diagnosed with cancer she had made herself stop looking in the mirror, the image reflected back at her was just too painful, she supposed now that she was going through this a second time she'd stop looking in the mirror again.

She had finally spilled everything to Conner, it felt good to have finally told someone but she was still fighting an urge to turn and run from her problems. She heard Aiden through the door laugh at what he was watching on tv and that sound brought her back to the present and out of her own head. She had to finish getting ready and leave within the next 15min. She had arranged to drop Aiden off at Conner's house on her way into the city.

She was just stepping out of the bathroom after finishing getting ready when there was a knock at the door. Confused she went to open it and found she was staring at Conner, "Conner what are you doing here? I thought I was going to drop Aiden off with you, not have you pick him up."

"Change of plans," he said as he glanced passed her through the doorway and at Aiden sitting on the bed behind her, "can I talk to you real quick out in the hall?"

Glancing back at Aiden Elizabeth said, "I'll be right back" and stepped out into the hall with Conner closing the door behind her.

"What's up Conner? You can't be canceling on me now" she said panic starting to set in that the supportive guy and father he had been since she told him was all just an act and now that things were getting tough he was finally letting his real feelings show.

"No, no I'm not bailing" he assured her and she sighed a little in relief and mentally kicked herself, she needed to stop always jumping to the worst conclusions with him, he had proven that he had changed and was in fact a more mature man who would no longer bailed at the first sign of trouble.

"I went home after our talk and realized something," Conner began, "getting sick, going through those treatments, that's not an easy thing to go through, especially when you're alone. You've been through it all before, and you've been through it alone. I don't think you realize you don't have to be alone anymore. You and I, we will forever be connected because of our son. That means that from now on I will be there for him and for you. I am on your side, in your corner, there to support you whenever you need it. When I told you I would be there and do whatever you need to help, all you wanted me to do is watch Aiden. But what about you Liz? You don't have to do this alone anymore, you don't have to put up this tough girl front. It's ok to let me in, to lean on me for support, I am going to be there.

So since you aren't used to a support system and don't know what to ask for I'm just going to have to show you what it means to have someone supporting you. That is why I am coming with you to your appointment today. You shouldn't be driving into the city by yourself and get the kind of news you'll be getting by yourself. You should have someone there with you, so I will be."

Elizabeth began shaking her head, "no I told you just watch Aiden, he can't come with. He was too young the first time to know details but he's not dumb he knew I wasn't my best and something was wrong. He can't be there for this, he can't know, not yet"

To her surprise Conner smirked, "Well that's why I called your parents as soon as I made this decision and they were more than happy to take him for the day."

"What!" Elizabeth almost screamed at him, "Conner what did you tell my parents? I told you they didn't know and I was going to tell them later."

"Relax," Conner cut her off, "I just told them that I thought it was time that you and I worked out some things just the two of us and we hadn't had the time alone yet to do that. You're mother was more than happy to take him off our hands for the day so we can discuss our future"

Elizabeth just shook her head, of course she would be. Her mom probably had some delusional idea that she and Conner could work everything out and live happily ever after.

"Fine," she said, "But you have to explain to your son why the day he was so looking forward to spending with his father is now going to be spent with his grandparents instead"

"Fair enough" Conner said and Elizabeth opened the door and the two of them walked back into the hotel room to talk with Aiden.

* * *

Jessica climbed into her car and slammed the door. She couldn't believe it. First Elizabeth shows up on her doorstep out of the blue, no warning from her parents, and wants to make things right. Then if it wasn't bad enough that Elizabeth insisted on calling her everyday, obviously not getting the hint from the fact that Jessica had done nothing but ignore her, her parents were constantly on her about giving Elizabeth a second chance. But through all of this she had still had Tia, supporting her, encouraging her to stay strong. Then today at work Tia is all of a sudden on Elizabeth's side.

How did she do it, just get everyone one to forget they were mad at her and be her friend again. She had always been like that, always been the one that everybody seemed to like without question. The goody two shoes that could do no wrong, and when she did it didn't take much for people to forgive her.

Since Elizabeth had shown up back in town she had stopped talking to her parents because all they ever wanted to talk about was Elizabeth. Tia had been her one constant; her encouragement and now she had switched sides too. It was all just too much to take. Jessica slammed on the steering wheel in frustration making the horn sound. She put her key in the ignition, started the car, threw it into drive peeled out of the parking lot and headed towards her parent's house. She was going to put a stop to this for once and for all. Let them say what they wanted to say so they would stop bugging her and she could finally get on with her life.

* * *

Conner stared at Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye as he drove them back home. She sat there in silence staring down at her lap where her hands were folded. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her. The doctor's appointment had not gone very well at all. After she had put off treatment for so long neither of them really expected any good news but it was still a huge gut wrenching feeling to hear the cancer had gotten worse and if she didn't start treatments immediately she wasn't going to make it much longer. They had wanted to check her into the hospital then and there but Elizabeth had refused insisted she needed to go home and explain things to her family, she had agreed to come back the following day to start treatments, much to the doctors dismay.

Finally unable to take the silence much longer Conner spoke up, "So Liz I've been thinking and I think it's time you and Aiden moved out of that hotel and came to live with me in my house."

Elizabeth's head shot up to look at Conner and her eyes widened, "don't be ridiculous Conner. Aiden and I are not going to move in with you."

"Why not?"

"Well for starters you're only asking because of the news we got today."

"Liz that is not true!" Conner replied a little offended. "I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now. It's ridiculous that you are wasting your money living in a hotel when I have two empty rooms for you back at my house. Plus it would give me more time with my son"

Liz just stared at him with a somewhat challenging look on her face

"Ok fine" he said "It's true that part of the reason might be because of the news we just heard. If you care to remember my mom's health is not all that great either, there is a nurse who comes in and takes care of her. Things can be arranged so that she can tend to whatever you may need as well. With me living in the same place as you it will be easy for you to use me as a babysitter whenever you need a break or time to yourself to recuperate"

"Listen Conner it's a very sweet offer, and it really does amaze me how much you have stepped up since I came back but that's just too much to ask from you. I can't do that"

"But Liz you aren't asking, I'm offering. You need to stop trying to do all this on your own and let me help you and be there for you. Listen I know this is a major step and with everything that is going on right now it's a lot to handle. Just do me a favor, think about it. And I mean really think about it, don't just tell me you will to make me happy but secretly have your mind made up already. Actually think about it, when you get back tonight sit down and go over all of your options"

Elizabeth looked at Conner, sighed and said, "Ok I can do that"

Conner smirked a little and returned his gaze to the road as he drove them back home.

* * *

"Mom! Hey mom where are you!?" Jessica yelled as she stormed into her parent's house

"In hear sweetie" Jessica followed her mother's voice into the kitchen where her mom stood behind the stove.

"Ok where is she?" Jessica asked.

Her mom looked up "Where is who?"

"Don't be ridiculous mom, you know who. Where is Elizabeth? I'm tired of you and dad and Elizabeth calling me every single day and bugging me. So I'm here, I'm going to let you all say what you want to say and then you guys can stop bugging me and I can get on with my life"

"Well that's great honey but Elizabeth isn't here"

"She's not?" Jessica was a little thrown, in her anger and determination to put all this to an end it never occurred to her that Elizabeth wouldn't be at her parent's house when she got there"

"Well no, she's not staying with us."

"She's not?" replied Jessica still thrown off

"No, she's staying at a hotel somewhere" her mom said as she grabbed a stack of plates and headed into the dinning room.

Jessica followed her mom and watched her set the table, "Ok well then where can I find her?"

"Well if you wait here a little while she'll be stopping by for dinner"

Watching her mom set the table Jessica noticed that she was setting places for five people. Thrown by that number a little Jessica commented "Don't bother setting me a place for dinner I'm not staying"

Her mom glanced at her as she walked by her and back into the kitchen, "Oh I wasn't setting you a place for dinner, but there is always room if you did want to stay"

Jessica wasn't quite sure what to think, she was confused by everything that was going on. She didn't get why her mom was being so calm and why she hadn't jumped on her the minute she walked through the door bombarding her with reasons she needed to make up with Elizabeth. Confused and at a loss for words Jessica glanced up and out the window. She noticed that her dad was outside with some kid she had never seen before. "Why is dad outside with some kid?" she asked

For a minute her mom looked a little shaken, "Oh we're babysitting" she said as she recovered her composure and continued to get food ready for dinner.

"Who are you babysitting for?"

"Oh um, just some neighbors"

"Which neighbors, I know everyone in this area and none of them have kids that young."

"You know Jessica you haven't lived at home for a couple years now, it is possible for your father and I to know people you don't"

Jessica moved closer to the window to get a better look at the kid, something about the way her mom was being evasive just didn't seem right. It was a little hard to tell from her distance but something about the kid was recognizable to her. "That kid looks really familiar, what's his name?"

"His name is Aiden," at the sound of her sister's voice Jessica spun around to find Elizabeth standing in the doorway with Conner next to her, "He's our son."

Jessica's mouth dropped open and she was left speechless.


End file.
